Daley to sign host city agreement

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announced on Wednesday that he will sign an Olympic agreement that could put Chicago on the hook for cost overruns related to the 2016 games- should the city get the bid.Daley is in Switzerland promoting the Windy City's bid to host the 2016 Summer Games.

The holding agreement was expected and must be signed by each bid city. Chicago's Olympic bid team said taxpayers have nothing to fear because new insurance policies would pickup the tab before the public would pay.

Chicago 2016's Lori Healy released a statement, "Due to the minimal risk in our bid's plan, Chicago 2016 has determined we can provide an additional layer of private insurance to further reduce risk to the City of Chicago and its taxpayers.

This new development will ensure that at the required time ? two days prior to the October 2nd decision - the Mayor of Chicago will be able to sign the host city agreement. The cost of this solution will be funded entirely by Chicago 2016.

This additional $500 million policy brings the bid's aggregate safety net to $2.5 billion in public and private safety net , making the likelihood of any further liability extremely remote.

This is good news for the taxpayers of Chicago. This different approach to our financial guarantees reduces risk to the City, while providing the necessary assurance that the International Olympic Committee has asked for."